I’m Sorry, What? Oh yeah, Focus.

I looked up the definition of scatter brained today.  According to some definitions Scatter brain means a forgetful person, simpleton, flighty and disorganized. 

I prefer another definition that says that scatter brained people are usually highly imaginative people who take in so many details at a time that if the details are deemed unimportant they get put to the side.  Well, it sounds better than flighty and simpleton, as I am neither of those things.  Yet, I have found that I DO forget things and now I am noticing that I forget them.  How weird is that?

For instance, I drive the same way to work each day and both on the way to work and on the way home I go through a tunnel for a bit.  Oddly enough, I remember this and notice it every day on the way home, but in the mornings, most of the time, I will get to work and not remember ever going through the tunnel, yet I had to have gone through it to get there. 

That’s not the only thing either.  Here’s a stupid example, the lawnmower I bought, I took back to Home Depot because I thought the pull chord had broken / pulled out too far and wouldn’t go back in so it wouldn’t start.  It wasn’t broken, it was fine – it had come unhooked from the bar so it just looked different.  Thing is, I didn’t remember it being hooked up there to begin with, how scatter brained is that?

There are other things too, that I will suddenly notice are different and my kids will say – “mom, it used to be this way all the time.” 

“Well, heck, where was I?” I reply.

“Um…..you put it there,” they say.   Yes, that makes me feel so smart I want to go play ostrich for a while.

I went on www.luminosity.com and joined up so I could practice brain training games.  Their games are supposed to build focus, hand eye coordination and help with memory.  I pass with flying colors every single time and usually with a high score, so obviously it’s something else, which brings me back to the definition that highly imaginative people basically filter out details that seem unimportant. 

 I have noticed that when I repeatedly do something and it’s the same each time – like going through the tunnel each morning – if my mind is thinking of other things such as getting to work on time, an upcoming meeting, or things I need to do that day, then it just basically dumps the unimportant detail that I went through the tunnel – again. 

 The lawnmower chord didn’t matter, until it wasn’t where it was supposed to be and doing what it was supposed to be doing, stupid chord.  Just like the door knob spinning a bit didn’t matter until the door knob fell off, the nerve of inanimate objects! 

 At least I know I do focus when it counts the most, I might be a little scatter brained at times, but it’s not because I’m really disorganized or simple-minded, it’s just another symptom of juggling too many things in this busy world we live in. 

 I have, in recent days, made more time for self-reflection and meditation.  There’s something about the peaceful calm combined with focused intention that puts things back in proper perspective, and helps me remember the details each day. 

Cherry Coley (c)